The profound impact of Christianity on the United States 英语论文.docx

the profound impact of christianity on the united states i. introduction1.1 definition of values beliefs are important and are usually shared by a nation about what is good or desirable and what is not. values of a nation have a major influence on the behavior of an individual and serve as main guidelines in all situations.1.2 definition of americanswhat is an american? an american can be english, french, italian, german, spanish, russian, greek, african, indian, chinese, japanese, australian, iranian, asian, arab, pakistani or afghan. americans are a mix of all countries from all over the world. thats why its sometimes called the melting pot, a mix of all cultures. an american is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. the root of that prosperity can be found in the declaration of independence, which recognizes the god-given rights of each man and woman to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. an american is free to criticize his governments officials when they are wrong. americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, because they are not afraid. they are not afraid that their history, nor their beliefs, will be overrun or forgotten. that is because they are free to hold to their religion, their beliefs, their history, as they each choose. americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the worst. america welcomes all you tired and you poor, all the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless and tempest tossed.1.3 american core valueswhat are the values that they have most fought for and admire most? the first, and most important, that should come to mind, is freedom. others are equality, democracy, helping of the oppressed and defense against tyranny. some of the other values are ingrained in their history and their beliefs are capitalism, independence, strength, rightness and righteousness, manifest destiny, god and freedom of religion, family, wealth and faith. . statistical figures of christianaccording to the statistics of the gallup center and many other authoritative organizations, 9 in every 10 people in the united states are claiming to believe in god, there are eight believing that christianity is very important for their lives, there are seven belonging to a christian organization, there are about six adhering to the prayer every day, there are five believing that god is the strength of american democracy and moral guidance and there are four people who will go to church once a week. in the united states, there are more than 30 million different church styles. each year in america there are 400 million people attending events such as football, baseball, basketball, tennis, car racing and other sports competitions, while the believers participating in church activities are as high as 5.2 billion. americans spent about $ 5 billion on sports a year while they spend more than 500 billion u.s. dollars on the church. the u.s. national anthem has the words “god bless america”. there also are people from the churches that are full-time and part-time volunteers for hospitals, prisons, airports, etc. today there are more than 1,200 christian radio stations playing a variety of religious songs in the united states. out of all the countries in the world, americans are the only ones who printed “in god we trust” on their money. the u.s. presidents speeches will include “may god bless america” at the end. if a presidential candidate does not believe in god, it is unlikely that he/she is to be elected president for there will be 60 percent of voters opposing him/her.iii. reasons that americans trust the christianin my opinion, there are several reasons why and are as followings.first, the united states has the main concentration of the jews. the history of the jews in the united states (united states of america), has been part of the american national fabric since colonial times. until the 1830s the jewish community of charleston, south carolina was the most numerous in north america. with the large scale immigration of jews from germany in the 19th century, they established themselves in many small towns and cities. a much larger immigration of eastern european jews, 18801914, brought a large, poor, traditional element to new york city. refugees arrived from europe after world war ii, and many arrived from the soviet union after 1970. america and its culture developed as an easy-to-enter “melting pot for many cultures, creating a new commonality of culture and political values. this open culture allowed many minority groups, including jews, to flourish in christian and predominantly protestant america.second, science cannot prove whether god exists or not. “i have no need for that hypothesis,” pierre-simon laplace famously responded when asked where god fit into his new astronomical theory. using calculus and newtons laws of gravity, he explained the forces that kept the planets from gradually drifting out of orbit, imparting some stability to the solar system. newton had thought the great engineer must step in now and then to readjust the machine. the theory didnt explain where the solar system came from. but laplace also had an answer. the planets, he proposed, had congealed from a swirling cloud of gas and dust surrounding the sun. so where did the sun and the mother cloud come from? and what set the whole thing revolving?by now, scientists think they have even those answers, and they do not involve the intervention of any great engineer. the whole point of science for the last few hundred years has been to explain everything in terms of a physical process, something that can be described by equations. the quest, however, is far from done. god, for those who want to use that term, can be invoked to account for phenomena that have not yet yielded to the scientific method. what is for some the ultimate question - does god exist? - has become a matter of how much further the domain of the unknown will continue to contract, and if it will ultimately evaporate. the momentum has been in that direction. the whirlpool of cosmic stuff that spawned the solar system spins because it is one small part of the great rotating galaxy, the milky way. when a random fluctuation causes enough gas and dust to bunch together, gravity takes over and celestial bodies begin to form. if you want to know where the galaxies came from, there are answers as well. ultimately, it all comes down to the big bang theory. that is where the chain of reasoning bottoms out. what caused the primordial explosion? at this point all but a few scientists go with wittgenstein (“of what we cannot speak we must pass over in silence) or with kierkegaard, blindly taking the leap of faith into the abyss of the unknown, choosing what to believe.third, christian culture is the mainstream of american culture. why the religion has a wild influence on the united states? this is not an occasional phenomenon. in fact, it has relations with the america history. in the 17th century, when the first puritans arrived at the new continent, they did not come to america for wealth but for the freedom of beliefs without being disturbed by europe governments, which had a great influence on the establishment of the united states. the early immigrants idea is ingrained and has a deep influence on everyone. the most important point: those who think that christianity is the truth and their position on science. these peoples minds are open, they are able to accept new information, and also they have the courage to challenge the authority though it has a preset position on the faith. this is the reason why there are so many christians while their science and technology are most developed in the united states.iv the profound impact of christianity on the united states4.1 the christian valuesto know the impact of christianity on the united states, we should first know what are christian values.bible summary. christian values are based on god and the work of jesus christ. the most important christian value is for a christian to value god more than anything, anybody, or any idea. christian values are based on spiritual things versus material things. even though christian values are spiritual in nature, the evidence of these values comes through on their deeds and actions. core christian values include hope, righteousness, love, and putting god first in our lives (humility, godliness, and so on). christian value: to value god a core christian value is having god first in our lives. this means continuously seeking his righteousness and totally relying on him. as humans we have the freedom of choice to decide what is right and what is wrong, but if we value god we will look to him for what is right and wrong. most of us have the resources and means to take care of ourselves, but if we value god we will rely on him to take care of our needs. we value god when we acknowledge that he knows better than we do on what we need in our lives. christian value: hope hope is a core christian value. a christians hope is based on jesus christs promises that he can redeem mankind and provide mankind eternal life. the christian value of hope enables a christian to be patient and persevere even though jesus promises of eternal life are unseen and unrealized in this present time. christian value: righteousness righteousness is part of the core of christian value. when a christian accepts jesus christ as their lord and savior, he or she is now in right standing with god. they are a “new man”. a christian is now set-aside for god to be holy and righteous. righteousness becomes more and more precious as a christian grows in his or her love of god. a christian seeks to do gods will and do what is right in gods eyes because he or she desires to strengthen their relationship with god. christian value: love love is a core christian value. christian love is called “agape” love which means unmerited favor. christians realize this type of love through god. because of gods unmerited favor and grace, he offers all of mankind eternal life through jesus christ. this is true love that comes from god. christians in turn value gods love and have a desire to provide this godly love of unmerited favor to others.4.2 impact on the americans ideologyit is such a powerful religious and social basis that it is able to have a strong cohesion. because of this, americans view themselves as having a special mission toward the external community, which is a christian-based idealism. americans often say that they have the most religious emotions. as u.s. president barack obamas victory speech said, the powerful is not relying on military and its wealth, but its faith and beliefs. famous american jurist berman said:“a country cannot have no legal, because any society needs order, but only the law is not enough, the main thing is to have faith, religion. religious rule the spirit, the law rules the acts. when there is no religion, the law becomes a kind of form. christianity provided moral and ethical standards and spiritual pillars as well as core values to the united states. humanitys greed and selfishness will play a role that injure others and society. the majority of americans believe that its necessary to be more serious on the issue of faith, morals and values. there is a very good article on the internet, the name of which is the christian and western politics. it points out that the system of ideas and principles from the bible are the basis of the america philosophy and law. and the author makes a further point that the core value of the american is from the bible. in the early american society, the primary main idea is the christian idea. the author embodied the relationship between the political idea and christian belief through the concept of “god created man who was created in accordance with the image of god”.“god created man who was created in accordance with the image of god”, so the human has the same ability of creativity, which is superior than the plants and animals that are also created by the god.“god created man who was created in accordance with the image of god”, so people have a noble dignity and are worth an adequate protection. humans should have the rights to life, property and liberty and these rights can not have been violated wherever. so the worlds nations and governments should respect and protect human rights (the universal declaration of human rights and people of the worlds human rights treaties). “god created man who was created in accordance with the image of god”, so the government is serving others. the legitimacy of the government must be admitted by the people. the function must be evaluated by his people. government should be elected by the people. the people to be served are individualistic people, which means that everyone is part of the people. the realization of the rights of the people must be the realization of the rights of everyone to be reflected, rather than a collection of concept which does not reflect the people of others (democratic political system). “god created man who was created in accordance with the image of god”, so everyone enjoys the freedom which can fully make the americans show the glory of god. this freedom first includes personal career freedom which can be fully in accordance with their abilities and preferences. the medieval restrictions are barbaric; second, it is the freedom which allow all of people to engage in the economic activities. people could socialize on their own ability; last, the socialist doesnt allow himself to engage in the economic policy freely which is the real limit. it is not good because we must engage in a free market economy (free economic system). this is the americans understanding of democratic political and economical freedom and human rights protection system. in addition, some of the personalities and habits of americans have contact with the protestant doctrine of christ, such as american independent and competitive personality, and respecting anothers privacy. however, it is also from the origin of puritanism in the united states, such as the glory of god, so people should improve themselves and this self-perfection include accomplishment and self-realization, especially on self- implementation. people should rely on their own self-realization rather than rely on others, like parents or relatives. so it is shameful to come to rely on kinship for their professional achievements (individualistic competitive system).at the same time, the rights and freedoms means the responsibility of the americans because everyone is created by god, so everyone enjoys the same freedoms and rights. we must respect the freedoms and rights of others. that respecting other peoples freedoms and rights is to respect the rights and freedoms of others (respect for others, focusing on privacy).it can be seen from above, america has been dedicated to the free and democratic ideas and institutions, because those ideas and institutions of a free democracy and human rights are the most in line with the spirit of christ in their minds. americans liberal democracy is a product of christian thought. like the united states political scientist, williams said:“americans are the ideals of democracy as the will of god” and as marsden said:“americans believe that the principles of christ are reflected in the constitutional government”, as eisenhower said, “all anti-democratic is to oppose god”. so, why do the americans spare no effort to persist in their endeavors to ensure democratic freedom and human rights, ideology and social order? the answer is the sense of mission on the salvation of the human spirits, which comes from christian doctrine and also comes from the special doctrine in some christian schools, especially in puritan thought. the belief is to believe that, the enthusiasm of the americans will transform the world after the millennium ,which will have an important impact on the americans.v. system superiority of the christianity in the united statesas tocqueville put it,“almost every religion, including political opinion, has a kind of consensus with its combination of “political and religious” aspects, and in the future, this relationship will never been interrupted.” in the united states, religious beliefs have homology to the christian faith and is penetrated into every aspect of political, economic and social endeavors.this consensus are mainly for democracy, free enterprise system and the concept of human rights protection system. they view the constitutional protection of freedom, democracy and human rights, with a lofty and sacred significance. and they no doubt hold it to a high standard of value. it is consistent with gods will.the following classic confession is from the declaration of independence:“we believe that below these truths, it is self-evident: that all men are created equal and all men are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness .”tocqueville laments that american christianity is almost mixed with freedom. u.s. religious and political scientist paul williams has said that the ideal of american democracy is as the will of god.americans hold quite firm to the principles of freedom, democracy and human rights. the carat kehong believe that there is a core part in the american value system and a unique security system that is like a “rock”; fremont and canterbury montreal see the basic political creed of most americans be on the ideological level which almost integrally does not move for more than 200 years.the united states has a so-called “good” and “noble” political system to which is their “serious concern”. the americans are extraordinarily self-confident of their own system and moral superiority